Shares in Anglo Irish Bank have lost a quarter of their value after it announced the resignation of chairman Sean FitzPatrick over "inappropriate transfer of loans".

In a statement the bank said FitzPatrick had, over a period of eight years to 2007, temporarily transferred loans with Anglo Irish Bank to another bank before the group's year end. This apparently "did not breach banking or legal regulations," according to Anglo Irish. But it was "inappropriate from a transparency point of view".

Loans to FitzPatrick totalled €87m (£81m) at the end of September this year. Non-executive director Lar Bradshaw has also resigned, since a loan he jointly held with FitzPatrick was temporarily transferred without his knowledge.

The bank has now begun a review of the practice of director's loans.

Proving that bad news is not bad news for everyone, Citidel Investment has just disclosed it has a short position of 0.5849% in Anglo Irish, whose shares are down €0.08 at €0.24.

Overall, it was always going to be difficult for investors to feel optimistic after Wall Street's overnight fall and yet another attempt to kickstart a global recovery with an interest rate cut, this time by the Japanese. So it proved, and the FTSE 100 is now down 50.12 points at 4280.54.

Johnson Matthey, the platinum specialist, is among the leading fallers after a downgrade from Goldman Sachs.

The bank has cut its earnings estimates for the company by 21% for this year and 54% for next year, given the global downturn. It has also reduced its price target from 980p to 875p.

Miners are also weaker on demand worries, with Antofagasta 17.25p lower at 404p as UBS reduced its recommendation from buy to neutral.